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Dave Smith has coached varsity boys basketball for 36 seasons at two different schools and recently picked up his 500th career win while guiding the Coe-Brown boys.

Dave Smith isn’t marking time, but he sure is making his mark.

Smith has been an educator and basketball coach for 46 years. If you’ve been around that long a lot of good things can happen and a lot has happened to Smith, who made his start back in 1967.

Most recently, the headmaster and varsity boys basketball coach at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy reached the 500 career win total during a holiday tournament in Keene (a 50-45 victory over Saunders, N.Y., on Dec. 29).

Smith has also coached his son, Mike, and coached against him as well (Mike is a social studies teacher and boys basketball coach at John Stark Regional High School in Weare).

Coe-Brown won the 1997 Class M title under Smith.

That win total comes during a varsity coaching tenure that spans 36 seasons, the last 23 at Coe-Brown. He also coached 13 seasons at old Alton High School, his alma mater, which is now Prospect Mountain High School.

Smith has been Coe-Brown’s headmaster since 1980.

Smith grew up in New Durham, attended Alton High and graduated from there in 1963. He attended Plymouth State, the University of Southern Maine and the University of New Hampshire, earning, in order, a bachelor’s degree, master‘s and, finally, a Certificate of Advance Graduate Studies.

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Whaley/Democrat photo
Alton's Dave Smith has been an educator and basketball coach in N.H. for 46 years.

Smith’s first teaching job was in social studies at Alton in 1967. He eventually became a guidance counselor and then made the move to headmaster at Coe-Brown in 1980. He lives in Alton with Maureen, his wife of 43 years. The Smiths also have a daughter Amy, who is a guidance counselor in New Jersey.

At 67, Smith does not find his passion for his coaching and his job diminishing. The basketball season is demanding, but Smith embraces it.

“Practices are to me, at this point, a lot more fun than the games,” he said. “We’re actually teaching and learning and working hard. The games are like the test of the practices to see if we’re continuing to improve. The main thing is are we getting better?”

In a day and age where coaching longevity is rare, Smith stays in the game by changing with the times, benefiting from a good coaching staff (Dave Daigle and James Johnson have been the JV and freshman coaches, respectively, for 21 years, and are long-time math teachers at the school) and yet never veering from his main coaching tenets.

Smith also remains heavily involved in the offseason setting up the summer league teams and leading summer camps.

“Even though I have certain expectations I believe that should be maintained whether it’s 1967 or 2013, I’ve been able to change a little bit and understand that times change,” he said. “But it’s important to not sacrifice or change your goals and what you feel is right.”

Smith said kids have different opportunities and expectations today than they did in even in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“You have to kind of weigh that, so you don’t get lost in that,” he said. “You have to listen to the kids. You have to understand the kids. There was a tendency back in the ages you treated everybody the same or close to the same. You can’t do that. You have to be treated as individuals. There are certain things that you have to do as a team. Everybody is a little different. You have to be willing to understand that, I think. That’s a big thing for a coach to be able to do. That’s hard for all of us.”

Johnson said, “His overall approach works. He has the right perspective: We and team and being a good person. He’s in it for all the right reasons.”

“It’s really like a family, to be honest,” Daigle said. “It’s a long season, but we have a great time. He allows you to be part of everything. He’s always willing to listen.”

The coaching stability has allowed the program to run smoother than most. Smith also said it is helpful having a school policy in place that discourages parents from talking about playing time. Parents are informed of that up front and, for the most part, it is not a problem.

“It’s about the kid, the season, the team,” he said. “It’s about hard work in practice and doing what’s right and making good decisions. It’s a combination of all those factors.”

Smith admits it’s harder for younger coaches today than it was 30 or 40 years ago. The parental pressures are a part of it, and it drives some coaches out.

Smith recalls when he got his start he taught social studies and coached four teams in Alton the first two years: varsity boys, JV boys, and junior high boys and girls basketball.

“Those are the things you had to do at small schools,” he said. “My roommate at the time was Frank Weeks (who coached the varsity girls team). That was his first year. Frank and I spent Saturdays and Sundays in the gym coaching a variety of teams.

Smith’s Alton teams made the playoffs 12 out of 13 years and advanced to two state finals. The one year Alton did not make the tournament, the team still went 11-7.

When Smith moved on to Coe-Brown, where he is in his 33rd year as headmaster, he still coached basketball. He did elementary and junior high in Alton and later JV at Coe-Brown. The Coe-Brown varsity position opened in 1990 when then coach Walt Damon stepped down (he later coached the boys’ team in Alton) and Smith applied and was approved as coach.

He’s been able to make it work with his main job as headmaster, although it does make for long days in the winter. The main thing is there are no conflicts. Games are later in the day and Smith runs later practices so he can take care of his headmasters duties.

The long winter days are something, Smith says, Maureen has always known.

Although they both attended Alton and Plymouth State at the same time, they didn’t develop a relationship until they both returned to Alton to teach.

“She was in the teachers’ room one day and they were talking,” Smith said. “It wouldn’t make much sense to go out with Dave Smith because you would never see him during basketball season. At the time, she realized what she was getting into.”

Smith still likes what he does.

“I enjoy the kids,” he said. “I enjoy the sport. I’ve always had a love for basketball. Basketball was a challenging sport for me compared to some of the other sports. I just found a respect for it. I find it has a good teaching theme, in my estimation, for life; for what it takes to succeed in life.”

One thing he does not like is coaching against his son, Mike.

“I don’t look forward to it,” Smith said. “I do like to win, so to beat my son is not a good feeling. I think he feels the same way. I’m very proud of my son as a teacher and a coach. I love that fact. I think he’s a pretty good coach and doing a good job. It’s nice and it’s fun to a certain degree. It’s not like the Oyster River game where you can just focus on the game.”

Dave Smith has no immediate plans to retire.

“At this point I just look at each year,” he said. “If the year is good and the health is good — as long as I still enjoy it, whether it’s basketball or being headmaster. ... When the time comes to do something else, that will happen.”

Mike Whaley is the Sports Editor for Foster’s Daily Democrat and the Rochester Times. He can be reached at mwhaley@fosters.com.